I worked out at Tri County in 1990-91, 92-95 and have many wonderful memories, made countless friends, got my ear pierced (twice) and spent way too much time and money. I feel like with this closing more of my youth has disappeared. Thank you for this piece.
@rain1676 well it looked basically the same as it does now; it’s not been remodeled much since 1993 when the second floor was added…but it was full. Not an empty space in the entire mall.
Just like Swifton, sad. My mom used to take me there on any random weekday in the late 70s/early 80s. They used to have a restaurant called Charley's with a glass ceiling. Pogue's used to have a restaurant on the second floor. The mall had stone statues of animals on green carpet and I'll never forget sitting on the stone llama and pretending to ride it.
Comments like this definitely make me feel like I accomplished what I set out to do, make this video a love letter to all of us 90's Cincy Mallrats who treated this mall like our personal castle.
Sometimes when I watch these videos of the malls, and they talk about grand openings, etc. I get that vision of people boarding the Titanic with the music as Kate Winslet is getting on the boat…😂😂
…you know I never thought of it that way but you’re right. Especially with malls that are closed now, it’s like we knew the ship was going down from the beginning
This video brought back a few memories. One day in 1983 my cousin and I went to Tri-County mall to meet the band Quiet Riot who were signing autographs at the music store (Record Bar maybe). I still have the signed album somewhere. Also, in 2020-21 I was looking for a place to walk to get some exercise during the winter. I was able to walk there on several occasions and think about the many good times I spent there in the 1980's with my friends. Great times!!
Safety Town in the parking lot. My mother forgot to sign me up and the next year I was too old. Ferrells was in the parking lot too with the loud drum every ten minutes. I think that closed in the early 1980s. I think I only went once. I think of my fellow straight edge friend Michelle working there in high school. Remember her folding clothes at some hipster store in 1994.
My mom has mentioned Ferrells before but I didn’t think it was still around that I would remember them (I’m about to turn 40). The Safety Town set was still there when the mall closed; I wish I had taken some footage of it.
Ugh, this one hurts as I have so many memories in that mall from the late 90s/Oughts. My girlfriend (now wife) worked at the Lens Crafters in the mall in 2007, so we spent a lot of time together there during our dating days.
Even though I only went to this mall once - back in April 2013 - this video brings back memores to a time when I bought some music CDs from the FYE that was in there. I'll miss this place, it was on my bucket lists of things I would visit once. Sad to see it and Forest Fair Village go. At least the site of Tri-County Mall is getting some redevelopment into a mixed-use space.
I rode my bike to Tri-County mall when it was first under construction. Northland road was under construction at the time and made it an easy bike trip. Nobody needed a bike lock back then.
I expect to hear at any time one of my favorite childhood malls closing, Fort Henry Mall in Kingsport TN. When I was a kid we always went there, Middlesboro Mall in Middlesboro KY or Village Center Mall in Harlan KY. I recently back in March went to Middlesboro Mall and as beautiful and retro as it is to see it's now even more dead than it was in your video of it (which I loved), I'm just so thankful for the others that go out and film these malls. I really wish I had videos of my favorite stores Hills and Service Merchandise and videos of the Malls I grew up going to back from the 1980s and 1990s, just having them on film before they're gone is a blessing. Watching this I feel sad and loss for you, I love dead mall videos but I admit they depress me some and make me long for better times, it's like a melancholy that while it hurts feels safe and warm.
I had this magnificent gap year that took place in this area and throughout Ohio of all places between my high school graduation and actual adulthood. Today it all seems like a dream. A fantasy. During that time I made some incredible memories at Tri County & Forest Fair. I’m not in Ohio anymore. As these two malls are surrendered to the hands of time and to the memories of the Gen X Mall Rats that will mourn them the most I can’t help but feel the collective heartbreak 💔. These are pieces and memories of my life from a time without photos and videos. The people also gone. Just the sentiments remain. Another part of my life will be gone forever. Ashes to ashes. Dust to dust. Leave The Memories Alone….
I was just commenting about how we would pack into my brand new 1998 boxy Jetta and hit up this mall… more often than Forest Fair… but gosh, good memories as well.
Wish I could have visited the last day, this definitely hits hard for me as well, I grew up going to tri-county and forest fair malls, They were as much fun for us as going to a amusement park.
I worked at GE Park, it was just north of TRI County, on 747.from 2012 to it closed in 2016. I didn't know the park/golf course existed until I got the job and I'd been going to tri county since my childhood in the 80s. Our house was about equal distance from NorthGate and TriCounty
Definitely have fond memories of when it only had one level. And growing up still going. My stepmom used to work at the Arby’s in there. So I went many weekends as a kid. Still can’t believe this one died faster than Northgate 😕
My oldest memory of the mall was the lounge The Matadore . My mom made sandwiches at lunch there. I worked at the Penny's salon when the second floor was added. I will miss our beautiful mall.
I don’t know if they had this problem there, but I worked at the Sears in Eastgate and as soon as they put in that snack bar, we almost instantly had a rodent problem in the store because people would leave food all over the store including the fitting rooms.
YOu did such a wonderful job......thank you for the journey of memories...this Mall represents my financial independence from my parents l worked in housekeeping at Pouges to pay for my entire first quarter at U.C in 1979.....and damn near every other store more than half of my SSI check will be from jobs at this mall lol!!!!
Still watching this in 2024. I miss this mall so much. I worked at Sears and leather limited. Got my first wallet at leather limited. Just retired it two months ago. Thank you so much for posting this. I lived here for years.
I worked at the huge Record Town here in 1999/2000. It was an amazing time. Life was a lot simpler then, and I remember the mall so vividly. Always hoped I would get back to Tri-County again one day... Sad it won't be there anymore. Thanks for making this.
Thank you for that. I have been over 400 miles away in the hills of Pennsylvania. I was born and raised near the mall and spent a lot of my teenage days there. I always said I would haunt that mall some day I know I'll miss it. I'll miss Christmas time in the mall it always had the sights and smells that got you in the Christmas Spirit. Remember when Q102 had the car contest where contestants had to stay in the car to see who could last the longest, the winner would get the car that was awesome. I'll miss you Tri County Mall RIP 🙏 and thanks again for making this tearful video
Tri-County Mall was my stomping ground when I was a teenager. This is where I did my shopping, hanging out with my friends, and meeting girls. Now it's going to close. It's just like you said, nothing stays the same. Losing Tri-County Mall is like losing a friend. This is a beautiful send off for one of Cincinnati's iconic malls.
the melancholic Mazzy Star is quite literally the perfect choice. Those are ammonites in the floor tile there. Much like the mall they now haunt, they too came to an abrupt end after a poor showing with the Amazon of their day - an asteroid 65 million years ago the size of Springfield.
MAn so many many memories of this mall I literally came of age in every facet I worked at Pouges in housekeeping post graduate from University of Cincinnati's art/fashion program in 1988 DAA ( b/4 the P) worked as their first black male to be the fashion coordinator when there was such at thing in big department stores. I worked at Kroger ,Pouges, Payless, Sears, Steakhouse, The Forum cafeteria, J.Riggins , Shillitoes/Lazarus also in visual merchandising....l mean l know lm leaving out a few places l cant remember . My introduction to the mall was in the 1960s as a child we'd get mad dressed up drive from Hamilton to go shop it was a huge big ass deal then many yrs later moving to a new suburb division Forest Park made going to Tri _county a veery regular occurrence....it will be deeply missed RIP T-C !!!!
Thank you for this video. This is the mall I spent my entire life going to, from the pre second floor to a few weeks before closing. I have so many good memories of this place, and you did an awesome job with this video.
As one of the City staff tasked with getting this site redeveloped, I would like to say this is the best video I have seen of the history of the mall leading up to today. Fantastic (and accurate) commentary. Hopefully you will come back for a follow up video when the first phase of the redevelopment opens in 2024.
A fitting send off. It was a good-looking mall with lots of natural light streaming in. I've never been there but it feels like I have. And now I'll miss it. You've done a fantastic job.
You could tell this visit hit you hard. Heck, it hit me hard seeing you say goodbye. It's a mall but while Tri County wasn't my mall (I visited it once or twice in the late 2000s), I have a connection on to my own local malls (one of which has long been demolished). To those of us growing up in the 70s, 80s and early 90s, the mall was basically our home, our social media, our everything. We begged our parents for a few dollars to go to the food court or the arcade (ah Aladdin's Castle). Heck, sometimes we 'borrowed' those dollars without them knowing. 🤣 Goodbye Tri County and thank you Kristin for sharing your mall with all of us.
This was definitely the mall that the closing hit me the hardest, even more than Forest Fair did. I used to spend a lot of afternoons after class in college wandering and browsing there, and it was like my second home. It’s so strange to know I can never go back.
Whats weird is i drive by Tri County everyday and really dont think twice about it, but after watching this video i took the time to think back to my formative years as a teenager and what a HUGE part this mall and Forest Fair Mall were to my life! Back in 1989 i was 16 years old. I had just got my license and the big thing to do every weekend was drive up to both malls from Aurora Indiana where i lived, and just hang out with friends or go to the movie theater within the mall. Its sad how we allow such memories to fade from us and it takes the loss of a place to rekindle them. To some these places are just mounds of concrete and glass.....to some of us though they represent our youth and a simpler time. The building itself may change or go away, but it up to us to keep the memories alive.....
I love the way you made the video! I'm a 46 year old, and I've been to many malls! It truly hurts my heart to see malls die off. A part of history that has died. I'm glad I got to enjoy the 1980s!
I'm six years younger than you, so I suppose that makes me a "90s kid", but you are exactly the person these videos are for; we're preserving their history so when they're all gone (or drastically scaled back) we will have something to show people!
I grew up with Tri-County as an open air mall. Nothing else for miles, except for the Albers and ZAYRES across the street, as well as Frisch's Big Boy. Back then the mall was a lot less boutique. There was a Kroger and a Kresge's that were next to each other. There was a single (open) walk between the two, and hundreds of starlings gathered there in the fall. The noise was almost deafening. I don't think I went to the mall more than once or twice after they added the second level. I literally couldn't recognize the place. It looked nothing like the mall where I grew up. Then again, hanging around the mall wasn't a lifestyle choice. You went there to shop. I didn't recognize one frame of the video you shot. If you told me it was from Forest Fair I would have believed you. They ended up looking the same. The mall I knew vanished a long time ago.
I’m sorry to disappoint. Considering that the Tri County you knew ceased to exist about 14 years before I was born obviously it would be quite difficult for me to have filmed it! I’ve found very limited documentation of it pre-1992 remodel and virtually none as an open air center prior to 1968, and I’ve looked quite extensively. You’ll be pleased to know that it has closed as of May 2022 and will once again be (at least in part) open-air.
Thank you so much for this video. I'm just a couple years older than you, and I feel like a huge part of me growing up was going to this mall. I can still see the shops in my mind as you walked through. RIP
You DiD nail it. Well done. 👍🏻💜 I don’t remember it being one story because I didn’t live in the area at that time. But I do remember the sunken fountain. I used to take my daughter through there in her stroller to see the water when we were at the mall. She spent quite a bit of time at this mall through her high school years.
This one was personal for me as well. This was my first Mall I visited with my family in the early 70's. This video was a fantastic tribute for a place that held great memories for many.
I think that's the hardest part of being a mall content creator is when these malls are closed for good and demolished/repurposed. I went to Eastland Center for the first time last year and glad I finally went especially it being a Gruen mall from the 1950s. It is currently being demolished for a storage center/factory but I'm glad I got to experience it in person. Also this past January I went to Phoenix and got to see what was left of Paradise Valley Mall which was a JCPenney and the entrance connecting it. I have to say as sad it may be seeing some of these malls gone, I'm so humbled and blessed and happy to be able to check out shopping malls and having the courage to document them.
Pittsburgh and Cincy are really so similar. I grew up in the famous Monroeville Mall. I've outlived Century III (C3) to us. I've watched them build a dead mall. Pittsburgh Mills, and live a mile from the thriving South Hills Village. I loved the Malls, yet haven't shopped in one in a decade. I do have that Ralphie May line though...the only thing they have for me is socks and cologne. Very nice work, you could tell this one hurts a little.
I went to the Monroeville Mall 4 years ago. It was the film location of Dawn of the Dead. My military buddies and I used to go watch that movie at a mall theatre in Pensacola during flight training school. There was really no remaining connection to the movie.
I just sat down to watch. I wanted to be able to really absorb it. Such a beautiful mall. Bravo for a personal send off. The lighting was exquisite, it felt like we were there. What you said is so true, we get distracted by the sounds, the smells, we don't focus on the beautiful architecture etc. This was amazing.
Thank you, Kim! I put a lot into this one and it’s been so great to hear that it’s resonating with people as much as it is. I really lucked out on the weather those days!
I spent a lot of time here growing up and in high school. Worked at Finish Line at every mall in the city from 2007-2013. This and Cincinnati Mills were my favorites. I always loved the way the sun shown through the skylights in the morning here. Sad to see it go, so many great memories.
This is so heartbreaking but very well done. The mall was part of my life for most of my life. In college I worked at Paul Harris in Western Woods Mall and then Tri County Mall. I still live nearby and tried to support the stores that hung on till the end. (Dakota Watch, Bath & Body Works). Having covered parking to a dance studio where I went to classes, and to a food court with a Taco Casa were gifts I never fully appreciated until they were gone.
So sorry to see your childhood mall go. Most of us who grew up with malls being more than just shopping destinations can understand the gravity of seeing the end of this era. Thank you for a wonderful video remembering the past.
Never thought I would tear up over a mall. But the death of a mall is like memories being tossed and the building destroyed. I don't know anyone who actually goes to a mall these days. I buy 99% of my stuff online. I remember malls going to the 70s, 80s and 90s. After the 90s, I rarely went to one. Thank you for this videos. I am sure there will be more malls on the deathbeds. You just have to document them before they're gone forever.
really great piece here - 10 out of 4! and that amazing quote ~ "if you want to know what i wore in high school, just go look at the juniors department at Target".... X-D
It's a weird experience buying clothes right now. The juniors' stores even SMELL the same as they did when I was in high school, and I can't figure out WHY! Thank you for watching!
I trained in this mall’s fye when the second eastgate store opened. It was the cool mall to go to in high school. I have old photos of friends I don’t see anymore at that fountain. Thanks for doing what you do.
Sad to see Tri County Mall closed....I shopped there often in 1986-1995 when I lived in the Cincinnati metro area. I remember shopping at McAlpins, Lazarus and Dillard's...
I’ll forever keep this video in my favorites. Thank you for the energy and time you took to make this. As a kid I spent hundreds and hundreds of hours in the arcade at Tri county. As well as many weekends shopping there. Eventually became the home of My first job. Cincy Shops! Thank you for your hard work. Always top notch videos. This one obviously hit different due to it also being one of “my malls”
It's heartbreaking. I live in this area and enjoyed this shopping mall immensely. It was confusing to me when Forest Fair was built between two exits to two other established malls but I enjoyed the new stores at Forest Fair. However, Forest Fair failed quickly. I love malls! Whatever the weather, malls offer the comfort of shopping several stores without going outside, As you know, Northgate is in bad shape too.
I will never understand how open-air malls like Rookwood and Liberty managed to come out on top in a place like Cincinnati where the weather is unpredictable and often inhospitable.
I remember stopping in there on a high school trip in 2000 from Detroit to Cinci. Our bus let everyone off and gave us 4 hours or so. I vividly remember how packed it was and that it seemed fairly new or at least recently renovated. It felt like the predominant mall in the area. What a time it was back then, I wouldn't trade that experience or those memories ever. The new Reds stadium was also going up and we caught a game at the old Riverside Stadium but they already took chunks out of it to fit the new building so you couldn't do a full circuit around it. That was a neat old stadium too and very original to c.1970. Got the worst sunburn of my life there. On the same trip we also stopped in at Eastgate and the transmission went out on the bus just as we pulled in. they had to send another bus from Detroit so we ended up spending all day there. But Eastgate was definitely hurting and well past its prime by that point and looked 100% vintage to 1980. It was night and day compared to TCM. I guess the tables have turned. All I can say is thanks for documenting this for posterity and I'm sorry for your loss, it's like losing an old friend. My childhood mall (Twelve Oaks) has made it to finalist level in mallageddon, duking it out with the -Somerset- Snob-erset Collection but 12-O is showing distress and the whole area is so over-retailed and I know eventually it's going to just be memories and an empty field. That'll be a sad day as I think it's one of the most architecturally advanced among the 1976-1982 class of malls (although it's been completely 'sterilized' in renovations). But it still felt brand new well into the '90s it was that avant-garde in the right way. If you are ever in the northwest suburbs of Detroit (i.e. I-275/I-96/I-696/M-5), you should stop in. It sits adjacent to the largest freeway interchange in N. America and one of the largest in the world by land area where 5 freeways converge. Taubman saw that on a planning map in the '60s and said "YEP!".
Thank you for sharing! I’m actually planning to try to get some malls in Michigan by the end of the year. Eastgate received a remodel in 2004, a couple years after your visit, but it’s not doing great these days. Sometimes I miss the old Riverfront Stadium-if it were coming down today I might make a video about it.
These videos are so well done. The research you put into every one of them is incredible. Having been to some of these mall locations across Ohio, I’m impressed with how well you capture what it was like to be there in your narrative. Your personal commentary is Chuck Klosterman level relatable for those of us in the Midwest who have spent time in these places. The reflection and nostalgia are dead nuts accurate. I had to share the Delia’s and Hot Topic portion of this video with my wife because we’ve had discussions about these things when looking back at our childhoods. If you ever get around to it, the mall in Lima, Ohio was our nearest mall and would be a cool review. As a child it was amazing but by the time I was a teenager in the late 90’s, it had already past it’s prime. I remember as a child there was a Lazarus, Sears, and Elder Beerman. My twin brother and I used to run to the back of the Woolworths to look at parakeets. My dad would get us that ridiculously huge bag of popcorn. Next to the mall was a Hills “where the toys are”. All these stores were gone by the time I was 16-17.
This mall has so many memories for me. I grew up about 10 minutes from here. As a kid my mom or grandma would drag me here then as a teen this was my hangout spot. Pre mid 2000s it really was a great mall but it’s mostly unchanged from the 90s. I’m sad to see it go but I’m hoping whatever they replace it with is just as amazing as TC Mall was in its heyday!
Wait what.. tri county mall is closing? I know I don’t get up there often (I’m in northern ky) but I didn’t know it was closing. So two different malls up there have now failed. East gate mall seems like it is failing. And florence mall seems like a ghost town a lot.
If I had to guess, excluding Forest Fair, the next mall in the Cincinnati area to close is probably going to be Eastgate or Northgate, with Eastgate having a slight edge because the area it sits in is growing, which means they’re more likely to get an attractive offer to buy it.
This was my mall as a teen and young adult too. Even worked security there for a while in college (I was working there when Penny's closed). Crazy how TCM shut down while Forest Faire remains open.
Nice video.....I too feel sadness with the two malls I grew up with.....one that has been severely neutered, and the other that is mostly a empty shell. Its funny how we humans can become "attached" to a place.....so many memories....first dates...birthdays...long lost friends...or parents...Saturday day getaways form the summer heat with good friends. I don't truly know why malls are dying in droves all over America, but it just seems a shame that, once again, we are losing a piece of our childhood , our history that will never return. But, like you said, the only constant in life is change. Thank you....and the folks like you, who bring these memories back to life, if for just one last time.
This one was difficult for me. I worked at TriCounty in the late 90s, at Kay Bee Toys, so I spent quite a bit of time there in a professional capacity, beyond being a teenager and just spending time at the mall. My mother worked at Lazarus in the early 90s, so we spent a lot of time there the, too. Seeing how quickly TriCounty went down hill was surprising, and saddening.
I worked at Tri-County Mall from 1994-2003 at three different stores (Sears,1994-1996; Lerner New York, 1996; and The Body Shop, 1996-2000 and 2001-2003). This mall was more than just a big part of my formative years, but also a big part of my professional life--I started out as a part-time sales associate at the first store and left a store manager at my last (I left TCM to go manage a Body Shop at the Cincinnati Airport, another store that has closed). Two companies I worked at after I left brick-and-mortar retail have also shuttered, and it's so bittersweet when you don't get closure. I hope the plans for reimagining the TCM space really do pan out.
I worked out at Tri County in 1990-91, 92-95 and have many wonderful memories, made countless friends, got my ear pierced (twice) and spent way too much time and money. I feel like with this closing more of my youth has disappeared. Thank you for this piece.
How was it like in the 90s
@rain1676 well it looked basically the same as it does now; it’s not been remodeled much since 1993 when the second floor was added…but it was full. Not an empty space in the entire mall.
This is the send-off Tri-County deserves. I lack the words to say much else, but it feels like it's a perfect close to its life.
I grew up in springdale and grew up in that mall! Omg the holidays especially! Wow. The memories. I cried when it closed.
Just like Swifton, sad. My mom used to take me there on any random weekday in the late 70s/early 80s. They used to have a restaurant called Charley's with a glass ceiling. Pogue's used to have a restaurant on the second floor. The mall had stone statues of animals on green carpet and I'll never forget sitting on the stone llama and pretending to ride it.
Thank you for this magnificent video and commentary. You really captured an era. ❤
Comments like this definitely make me feel like I accomplished what I set out to do, make this video a love letter to all of us 90's Cincy Mallrats who treated this mall like our personal castle.
Sometimes when I watch these videos of the malls, and they talk about grand openings, etc. I get that vision of people boarding the Titanic with the music as Kate Winslet is getting on the boat…😂😂
…you know I never thought of it that way but you’re right. Especially with malls that are closed now, it’s like we knew the ship was going down from the beginning
This video brought back a few memories. One day in 1983 my cousin and I went to Tri-County mall to meet the band Quiet Riot who were signing autographs at the music store (Record Bar maybe). I still have the signed album somewhere. Also, in 2020-21 I was looking for a place to walk to get some exercise during the winter. I was able to walk there on several occasions and think about the many good times I spent there in the 1980's with my friends. Great times!!
What a beautiful building.
I will miss the mall's Christmas decorations in its heyday.
Safety Town in the parking lot. My mother forgot to sign me up and the next year I was too old.
Ferrells was in the parking lot too with the loud drum every ten minutes. I think that closed in the early 1980s. I think I only went once.
I think of my fellow straight edge friend Michelle working there in high school. Remember her folding clothes at some hipster store in 1994.
My mom has mentioned Ferrells before but I didn’t think it was still around that I would remember them (I’m about to turn 40). The Safety Town set was still there when the mall closed; I wish I had taken some footage of it.
My first time was ‘81. I remember the concrete single story tricounty. Many memories…
I worked at Shillito’s, Shillito’s-Rikes, and Lazarus from ‘82-98. My family shopped there since it opened. Thanks for the lovely tribute.
I said good-bye in 2021 to the mall that I grew up with. Hilltop Mall in Richmond, CA. ...I still remember when it was being built in 1976.
@5:49 I recognize that facade... KB Toys. That was my go to toy store when I was a kid, since the mall it was at was close by where I lived.
Bingo! Good eye! :)
Ugh, this one hurts as I have so many memories in that mall from the late 90s/Oughts. My girlfriend (now wife) worked at the Lens Crafters in the mall in 2007, so we spent a lot of time together there during our dating days.
Even though I only went to this mall once - back in April 2013 - this video brings back memores to a time when I bought some music CDs from the FYE that was in there. I'll miss this place, it was on my bucket lists of things I would visit once.
Sad to see it and Forest Fair Village go. At least the site of Tri-County Mall is getting some redevelopment into a mixed-use space.
I rode my bike to Tri-County mall when it was first under construction. Northland road was under construction at the time and made it an easy bike trip. Nobody needed a bike lock back then.
I expect to hear at any time one of my favorite childhood malls closing, Fort Henry Mall in Kingsport TN. When I was a kid we always went there, Middlesboro Mall in Middlesboro KY or Village Center Mall in Harlan KY. I recently back in March went to Middlesboro Mall and as beautiful and retro as it is to see it's now even more dead than it was in your video of it (which I loved), I'm just so thankful for the others that go out and film these malls. I really wish I had videos of my favorite stores Hills and Service Merchandise and videos of the Malls I grew up going to back from the 1980s and 1990s, just having them on film before they're gone is a blessing. Watching this I feel sad and loss for you, I love dead mall videos but I admit they depress me some and make me long for better times, it's like a melancholy that while it hurts feels safe and warm.
I had this magnificent gap year that took place in this area and throughout Ohio of all places between my high school graduation and actual adulthood. Today it all seems like a dream. A fantasy. During that time I made some incredible memories at Tri County & Forest Fair. I’m not in Ohio anymore. As these two malls are surrendered to the hands of time and to the memories of the Gen X Mall Rats that will mourn them the most I can’t help but feel the collective heartbreak 💔. These are pieces and memories of my life from a time without photos and videos. The people also gone. Just the sentiments remain. Another part of my life will be gone forever. Ashes to ashes. Dust to dust. Leave The Memories Alone….
I was just commenting about how we would pack into my brand new 1998 boxy Jetta and hit up this mall… more often than Forest Fair… but gosh, good memories as well.
Thanks for making me feel nostalgic about a place i never have and never will visit.
That floor was so beautiful!
The floor might be my favorite thing!
Wish I could have visited the last day, this definitely hits hard for me as well, I grew up going to tri-county and forest fair malls, They were as much fun for us as going to a amusement park.
Absolutely. Both these malls were great to visit when you were a kid when they were in their prime and busy. I have so many fond memories at both.
I worked at GE Park, it was just north of TRI County, on 747.from 2012 to it closed in 2016. I didn't know the park/golf course existed until I got the job and I'd been going to tri county since my childhood in the 80s.
Our house was about equal distance from NorthGate and TriCounty
I grew up in Springdale, so sad that tri county and Cincinnati mills are both closed!
I will surely miss this beautiful space. So sad!!
7:46 "flatliners" is a 90's suncoast video store.
It is! Good eye!
I worked there in 96, and 2003-2005 at Cinnabon and Tina's floral right next to Cinnabon
Definitely have fond memories of when it only had one level. And growing up still going. My stepmom used to work at the Arby’s in there. So I went many weekends as a kid. Still can’t believe this one died faster than Northgate 😕
My oldest memory of the mall was the lounge The Matadore . My mom made sandwiches at lunch there. I worked at the Penny's salon when the second floor was added. I will miss our beautiful mall.
I loved this place when I lived up in the area between 2014 and early 2015. I can't believe it's gone.
You should have seen it back when it was full. Absolutely the best. Thank you for watching!
I worked at tri county mall at sears... When flat screens first came out 🥺
You know I wish I had one of those flat CRT’s they were just invincible
Lovely video.
I worked at Petland summer 1995....
I can still smell the pop corn coming from Sears!
I don’t know if they had this problem there, but I worked at the Sears in Eastgate and as soon as they put in that snack bar, we almost instantly had a rodent problem in the store because people would leave food all over the store including the fitting rooms.
YOu did such a wonderful job......thank you for the journey of memories...this Mall represents my financial independence from my parents l worked in housekeeping at Pouges to pay for my entire first quarter at U.C in 1979.....and damn near every other store more than half of my SSI check will be from jobs at this mall lol!!!!
This was definitely your best yet. My previous favorite was the Overmalling of Cincinnati series. Very well done. Thank you!
In the 80’s and 90’s all the malls were booming. The internet killed the malls, and now it’s killing our society. Sad
I recognize the first background song... such an underrated gem that was! Mazzy Star has my heart forever.
I am fairly sure I bought the cassette single for that song right there in that mall!
Still watching this in 2024. I miss this mall so much. I worked at Sears and leather limited. Got my first wallet at leather limited. Just retired it two months ago. Thank you so much for posting this. I lived here for years.
I worked at the huge Record Town here in 1999/2000. It was an amazing time. Life was a lot simpler then, and I remember the mall so vividly. Always hoped I would get back to Tri-County again one day... Sad it won't be there anymore. Thanks for making this.
I was a kid when Tri County first opened, and it was a phenomenon.
Thank you for that. I have been over 400 miles away in the hills of Pennsylvania. I was born and raised near the mall and spent a lot of my teenage days there. I always said I would haunt that mall some day I know I'll miss it. I'll miss Christmas time in the mall it always had the sights and smells that got you in the Christmas Spirit. Remember when Q102 had the car contest where contestants had to stay in the car to see who could last the longest, the winner would get the car that was awesome. I'll miss you Tri County Mall RIP 🙏 and thanks again for making this tearful video
Not as nostalgic as Forest fair or Northgate to me, but we went out of our way to go here sometimes
Mazzy Star??? Epic call back
Tri-County Mall was my stomping ground when I was a teenager. This is where I did my shopping, hanging out with my friends, and meeting girls. Now it's going to close. It's just like you said, nothing stays the same. Losing Tri-County Mall is like losing a friend. This is a beautiful send off for one of Cincinnati's iconic malls.
the melancholic Mazzy Star is quite literally the perfect choice.
Those are ammonites in the floor tile there. Much like the mall they now haunt, they too came to an abrupt end after a poor showing with the Amazon of their day - an asteroid 65 million years ago the size of Springfield.
I'm in tears ...
It was a very emotional day for me too. This place just held so many memories for us in Cincinnati.
@@UniCommProductions Very true...
I didn't expect this video to have such an intense effect on me emotionally or that I would appreciate it so deeply
MAn so many many memories of this mall I literally came of age in every facet I worked at Pouges in housekeeping post graduate from University of Cincinnati's art/fashion program in 1988 DAA ( b/4 the P) worked as their first black male to be the fashion coordinator when there was such at thing in big department stores. I worked at Kroger ,Pouges, Payless, Sears, Steakhouse, The Forum cafeteria, J.Riggins , Shillitoes/Lazarus also in visual merchandising....l mean l know lm leaving out a few places l cant remember . My introduction to the mall was in the 1960s as a child we'd get mad dressed up drive from Hamilton to go shop it was a huge big ass deal then many yrs later moving to a new suburb division Forest Park made going to Tri _county a veery regular occurrence....it will be deeply missed RIP T-C !!!!
Thank you for this video. This is the mall I spent my entire life going to, from the pre second floor to a few weeks before closing. I have so many good memories of this place, and you did an awesome job with this video.
Well done kiddo, be strong,,,, and may GOD BLESS us all....
As one of the City staff tasked with getting this site redeveloped, I would like to say this is the best video I have seen of the history of the mall leading up to today. Fantastic (and accurate) commentary. Hopefully you will come back for a follow up video when the first phase of the redevelopment opens in 2024.
I would absolutely love to document that if given the opportunity. Thank you for understanding the message of my video. Maybe I’ll see you in 2024!
A fitting send off. It was a good-looking mall with lots of natural light streaming in. I've never been there but it feels like I have. And now I'll miss it. You've done a fantastic job.
You could tell this visit hit you hard. Heck, it hit me hard seeing you say goodbye. It's a mall but while Tri County wasn't my mall (I visited it once or twice in the late 2000s), I have a connection on to my own local malls (one of which has long been demolished). To those of us growing up in the 70s, 80s and early 90s, the mall was basically our home, our social media, our everything. We begged our parents for a few dollars to go to the food court or the arcade (ah Aladdin's Castle). Heck, sometimes we 'borrowed' those dollars without them knowing. 🤣
Goodbye Tri County and thank you Kristin for sharing your mall with all of us.
This was definitely the mall that the closing hit me the hardest, even more than Forest Fair did. I used to spend a lot of afternoons after class in college wandering and browsing there, and it was like my second home. It’s so strange to know I can never go back.
Whats weird is i drive by Tri County everyday and really dont think twice about it, but after watching this video i took the time to think back to my formative years as a teenager and what a HUGE part this mall and Forest Fair Mall were to my life! Back in 1989 i was 16 years old. I had just got my license and the big thing to do every weekend was drive up to both malls from Aurora Indiana where i lived, and just hang out with friends or go to the movie theater within the mall.
Its sad how we allow such memories to fade from us and it takes the loss of a place to rekindle them. To some these places are just mounds of concrete and glass.....to some of us though they represent our youth and a simpler time. The building itself may change or go away, but it up to us to keep the memories alive.....
I love the way you made the video! I'm a 46 year old, and I've been to many malls! It truly hurts my heart to see malls die off. A part of history that has died. I'm glad I got to enjoy the 1980s!
I'm six years younger than you, so I suppose that makes me a "90s kid", but you are exactly the person these videos are for; we're preserving their history so when they're all gone (or drastically scaled back) we will have something to show people!
I grew up with Tri-County as an open air mall. Nothing else for miles, except for the Albers and ZAYRES across the street, as well as Frisch's Big Boy.
Back then the mall was a lot less boutique. There was a Kroger and a Kresge's that were next to each other. There was a single (open) walk between the two, and hundreds of starlings gathered there in the fall. The noise was almost deafening.
I don't think I went to the mall more than once or twice after they added the second level. I literally couldn't recognize the place. It looked nothing like the mall where I grew up. Then again, hanging around the mall wasn't a lifestyle choice. You went there to shop.
I didn't recognize one frame of the video you shot. If you told me it was from Forest Fair I would have believed you. They ended up looking the same.
The mall I knew vanished a long time ago.
I’m sorry to disappoint. Considering that the Tri County you knew ceased to exist about 14 years before I was born obviously it would be quite difficult for me to have filmed it! I’ve found very limited documentation of it pre-1992 remodel and virtually none as an open air center prior to 1968, and I’ve looked quite extensively. You’ll be pleased to know that it has closed as of May 2022 and will once again be (at least in part) open-air.
Thank you so much for this video. I'm just a couple years older than you, and I feel like a huge part of me growing up was going to this mall. I can still see the shops in my mind as you walked through. RIP
So sad, such a nice looking mall.
You DiD nail it. Well done. 👍🏻💜 I don’t remember it being one story because I didn’t live in the area at that time. But I do remember the sunken fountain. I used to take my daughter through there in her stroller to see the water when we were at the mall. She spent quite a bit of time at this mall through her high school years.
Just wow.. Boys to men................ It so hard to say goodbye to yesterday... Thanks Tri County Mall... Teen Years
This one was personal for me as well. This was my first Mall I visited with my family in the early 70's. This video was a fantastic tribute for a place that held great memories for many.
You are doing a great job of documenting a unique era that will never be repeated, our descendants will look through this footage in wonder
I think that's the hardest part of being a mall content creator is when these malls are closed for good and demolished/repurposed. I went to Eastland Center for the first time last year and glad I finally went especially it being a Gruen mall from the 1950s. It is currently being demolished for a storage center/factory but I'm glad I got to experience it in person. Also this past January I went to Phoenix and got to see what was left of Paradise Valley Mall which was a JCPenney and the entrance connecting it.
I have to say as sad it may be seeing some of these malls gone, I'm so humbled and blessed and happy to be able to check out shopping malls and having the courage to document them.
I used to drive from NKY in the 80s to Tri-County because it offered so much and was so pleasing to the eye.
The fact you have a connection to this place really comes out in this video, and probably makes it my favorite of yours so far.
Pittsburgh and Cincy are really so similar. I grew up in the famous Monroeville Mall. I've outlived Century III (C3) to us. I've watched them build a dead mall. Pittsburgh Mills, and live a mile from the thriving South Hills Village. I loved the Malls, yet haven't shopped in one in a decade. I do have that Ralphie May line though...the only thing they have for me is socks and cologne. Very nice work, you could tell this one hurts a little.
I went to the Monroeville Mall 4 years ago. It was the film location of Dawn of the Dead. My military buddies and I used to go watch that movie at a mall theatre in Pensacola during flight training school. There was really no remaining connection to the movie.
i LOVE these longer tours. let me get lost in the mall with you guys, so meditating & peaceful to work to.
I just sat down to watch. I wanted to be able to really absorb it. Such a beautiful mall. Bravo for a personal send off. The lighting was exquisite, it felt like we were there. What you said is so true, we get distracted by the sounds, the smells, we don't focus on the beautiful architecture etc. This was amazing.
Thank you, Kim! I put a lot into this one and it’s been so great to hear that it’s resonating with people as much as it is. I really lucked out on the weather those days!
I spent a lot of time here growing up and in high school. Worked at Finish Line at every mall in the city from 2007-2013. This and Cincinnati Mills were my favorites. I always loved the way the sun shown through the skylights in the morning here. Sad to see it go, so many great memories.
This is so heartbreaking but very well done. The mall was part of my life for most of my life. In college I worked at Paul Harris in Western Woods Mall and then Tri County Mall. I still live nearby and tried to support the stores that hung on till the end. (Dakota Watch, Bath & Body Works). Having covered parking to a dance studio where I went to classes, and to a food court with a Taco Casa were gifts I never fully appreciated until they were gone.
My friends and I used to drive out all the way from Adams County to this mall in the 90's, just to mallrat around. A whole lot of fond memories.
That sounds like something we would have done
So sorry to see your childhood mall go. Most of us who grew up with malls being more than just shopping destinations can understand the gravity of seeing the end of this era. Thank you for a wonderful video remembering the past.
Never thought I would tear up over a mall. But the death of a mall is like memories being tossed and the building destroyed. I don't know anyone who actually goes to a mall these days. I buy 99% of my stuff online. I remember malls going to the 70s, 80s and 90s. After the 90s, I rarely went to one. Thank you for this videos. I am sure there will be more malls on the deathbeds. You just have to document them before they're gone forever.
really great piece here - 10 out of 4! and that amazing quote ~ "if you want to know what i wore in high school, just go look at the juniors department at Target".... X-D
It's a weird experience buying clothes right now. The juniors' stores even SMELL the same as they did when I was in high school, and I can't figure out WHY! Thank you for watching!
I trained in this mall’s fye when the second eastgate store opened. It was the cool mall to go to in high school. I have old photos of friends I don’t see anymore at that fountain. Thanks for doing what you do.
You and I must be close to the same age. Thank you for watching!
@@UniCommProductions class of 03 so not too far off! Thanks again and as always look forward to the next one.
Sad to see Tri County Mall closed....I shopped there often in 1986-1995 when I lived in the Cincinnati metro area. I remember shopping at McAlpins, Lazarus and Dillard's...
I’ll forever keep this video in my favorites. Thank you for the energy and time you took to make this. As a kid I spent hundreds and hundreds of hours in the arcade at Tri county. As well as many weekends shopping there. Eventually became the home of My first job. Cincy Shops! Thank you for your hard work. Always top notch videos. This one obviously hit different due to it also being one of “my malls”
It's heartbreaking. I live in this area and enjoyed this shopping mall immensely. It was confusing to me when Forest Fair was built between two exits to two other established malls but I enjoyed the new stores at Forest Fair. However, Forest Fair failed quickly. I love malls! Whatever the weather, malls offer the comfort of shopping several stores without going outside, As you know, Northgate is in bad shape too.
I will never understand how open-air malls like Rookwood and Liberty managed to come out on top in a place like Cincinnati where the weather is unpredictable and often inhospitable.
I think the real downward spiral for struggling malls was around 2007..A lot of things happened to hurt all the malls around that time.
2007-2008’s financial crisis set off a wave of failures and closures for certain.
One of the few malls I never have been to around Cincinnati. Kenwood town Center is the one I have almost always gone to.
Thank you , very well done!
You nailed it! Awesome video. It's so much harder to say good bye to the close friend versus the random acquaintance.
That’s an excellent way to put it!
Well said as always....
I remember stopping in there on a high school trip in 2000 from Detroit to Cinci. Our bus let everyone off and gave us 4 hours or so. I vividly remember how packed it was and that it seemed fairly new or at least recently renovated. It felt like the predominant mall in the area. What a time it was back then, I wouldn't trade that experience or those memories ever. The new Reds stadium was also going up and we caught a game at the old Riverside Stadium but they already took chunks out of it to fit the new building so you couldn't do a full circuit around it. That was a neat old stadium too and very original to c.1970. Got the worst sunburn of my life there.
On the same trip we also stopped in at Eastgate and the transmission went out on the bus just as we pulled in. they had to send another bus from Detroit so we ended up spending all day there. But Eastgate was definitely hurting and well past its prime by that point and looked 100% vintage to 1980. It was night and day compared to TCM. I guess the tables have turned.
All I can say is thanks for documenting this for posterity and I'm sorry for your loss, it's like losing an old friend. My childhood mall (Twelve Oaks) has made it to finalist level in mallageddon, duking it out with the -Somerset- Snob-erset Collection but 12-O is showing distress and the whole area is so over-retailed and I know eventually it's going to just be memories and an empty field. That'll be a sad day as I think it's one of the most architecturally advanced among the 1976-1982 class of malls (although it's been completely 'sterilized' in renovations). But it still felt brand new well into the '90s it was that avant-garde in the right way. If you are ever in the northwest suburbs of Detroit (i.e. I-275/I-96/I-696/M-5), you should stop in. It sits adjacent to the largest freeway interchange in N. America and one of the largest in the world by land area where 5 freeways converge. Taubman saw that on a planning map in the '60s and said "YEP!".
Thank you for sharing! I’m actually planning to try to get some malls in Michigan by the end of the year. Eastgate received a remodel in 2004, a couple years after your visit, but it’s not doing great these days. Sometimes I miss the old Riverfront Stadium-if it were coming down today I might make a video about it.
These videos are so well done. The research you put into every one of them is incredible. Having been to some of these mall locations across Ohio, I’m impressed with how well you capture what it was like to be there in your narrative. Your personal commentary is Chuck Klosterman level relatable for those of us in the Midwest who have spent time in these places. The reflection and nostalgia are dead nuts accurate. I had to share the Delia’s and Hot Topic portion of this video with my wife because we’ve had discussions about these things when looking back at our childhoods. If you ever get around to it, the mall in Lima, Ohio was our nearest mall and would be a cool review. As a child it was amazing but by the time I was a teenager in the late 90’s, it had already past it’s prime. I remember as a child there was a Lazarus, Sears, and Elder Beerman. My twin brother and I used to run to the back of the Woolworths to look at parakeets. My dad would get us that ridiculously huge bag of popcorn. Next to the mall was a Hills “where the toys are”. All these stores were gone by the time I was 16-17.
This mall has so many memories for me. I grew up about 10 minutes from here. As a kid my mom or grandma would drag me here then as a teen this was my hangout spot. Pre mid 2000s it really was a great mall but it’s mostly unchanged from the 90s. I’m sad to see it go but I’m hoping whatever they replace it with is just as amazing as TC Mall was in its heyday!
You have the perfect voice for radio.. This mall appears to be in pretty good shape, though you did mention the water issue in the food court.
I might have the face for it too! 😂😂😂 I kid, I kid. Thank you for watching, Dennis!
It was a gorgeous mall, thanks for sharing this.
Wait what.. tri county mall is closing? I know I don’t get up there often (I’m in northern ky) but I didn’t know it was closing. So two different malls up there have now failed.
East gate mall seems like it is failing.
And florence mall seems like a ghost town a lot.
If I had to guess, excluding Forest Fair, the next mall in the Cincinnati area to close is probably going to be Eastgate or Northgate, with Eastgate having a slight edge because the area it sits in is growing, which means they’re more likely to get an attractive offer to buy it.
This was my mall as a teen and young adult too. Even worked security there for a while in college (I was working there when Penny's closed). Crazy how TCM shut down while Forest Faire remains open.
Great story telling and capturing of history.
I visited this mall in 2011…it seemed like it was doing well
It really didn’t start to go downhill until around 2015 when Liberty Center opened and Dillards left
Nice video.....I too feel sadness with the two malls I grew up with.....one that has been severely neutered, and the other that is mostly a empty shell. Its funny how we humans can become "attached" to a place.....so many memories....first dates...birthdays...long lost friends...or parents...Saturday day getaways form the summer heat with good friends. I don't truly know why malls are dying in droves all over America, but it just seems a shame that, once again, we are losing a piece of our childhood , our history that will never return. But, like you said, the only constant in life is change. Thank you....and the folks like you, who bring these memories back to life, if for just one last time.
I went to high school where 275 meets 71. Tri-County was also my mall. 😞
This one was difficult for me. I worked at TriCounty in the late 90s, at Kay Bee Toys, so I spent quite a bit of time there in a professional capacity, beyond being a teenager and just spending time at the mall. My mother worked at Lazarus in the early 90s, so we spent a lot of time there the, too. Seeing how quickly TriCounty went down hill was surprising, and saddening.
I like how u put history in your videos and love your voice that work very well in your videos and it’s calming too.
This has got to be the best mall video I have ever watched
I worked at Tri-County Mall from 1994-2003 at three different stores (Sears,1994-1996; Lerner New York, 1996; and The Body Shop, 1996-2000 and 2001-2003). This mall was more than just a big part of my formative years, but also a big part of my professional life--I started out as a part-time sales associate at the first store and left a store manager at my last (I left TCM to go manage a Body Shop at the Cincinnati Airport, another store that has closed). Two companies I worked at after I left brick-and-mortar retail have also shuttered, and it's so bittersweet when you don't get closure. I hope the plans for reimagining the TCM space really do pan out.
Always enjoy your content! Thanks for posting these!!
My condolences. Thank you for such a beautiful tribute. I will mourn this with you 🖖🖖